Before I say more about this upcoming workshop intensive I suggest reading this letter from its organizer, Louise Robb, as some details have changed which just might make it possible for you to join us.

Dear Friends,

My home at 121 Main Street, in Lower Largo, Scotland will be where we will meet. The workshop will take place in a lovely teaching room just a few meters from 5 miles of beach. Weather permitting we will do some work outside as well. To get a feel for where we will be studying take 3 minutes and watch my little video.

We are a 45 minutes drive from Edinburgh Airport. We may be able to collect you on Monday afternoon from the airport if you can co-ordinate flights, and return you on Friday morning. We are also 12 miles from Kirkcaldy train station which is the mainline from London to Aberdeen. Buses also run to the village from Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy.

We have changed the venue in order to reduce the cost. The tuition for the 3 day intensive is now only £400. My friends John Tuite, James Knight and I want to make it feasible for as many of you as possible to meet and work with Bruce Fertman. It’s a rare opportunity to work with Bruce in Scotland.

Many small properties in the village are on Airbnb. (e.g.Cardy Crossing is right next door to my home). Here are some links.

It’s a small village, but we do have three places within walking distance to eat. The Crusoe Hotel, The Old Manor, and Janye’s coffee shop. We have a small range of local shops where you can purchase food. It is also possible to have Sainsbury’s deliver food to your Airbnb directly.

I am asking for an immediate deposit of £150 to secure your place by Friday 16 March, and full payment of the balance of £250 one week before the workshop, 10 April. It’s up to you to see to your own accommodations.

Read now about the workshop and about Bruce Fertman.

Please join us.

Louise Robb

Teaching By Hand/Learning By Heart

Teaching by hand is what I have been doing for 55 years. Given I am only a mere 66 that sounds incredulous. But at eleven I began teaching little kids how to swim and dive, then later gymnastics, then modern dance, then tai chi and aikido, all the while teaching kids and later adults how to move easily and effectively. However, it was Marjorie Barstow, the first person formally certified by Alexander to teach his work who, over 16 years, taught me how to use my hands in a way that not only brought a person’s body into balance, but brought a person’s being into balance.

Accompanying my life as a movement artist and educator, having trained in gymnastics, modern dance, ballet, contact improvisation, Argentine tango, tai chi chu’an, aikido, Japanese tea ceremony, and kyudo, I immersed myself in the study of psychology and theology, which very much shaped me into the person and teacher I have become. My way of working integrates insights gleaned through the work of Eric Berne, (Transactional Analysis), Carl Rogers, (Person Centered Therapy), Frederick Perls, (Gestalt Therapy), Albert Ellis, (Rational-Emotive Therapy), Carl Jung, (Analytical Psychology), and Byron Katie, (Inquiry), Studying with renowned Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist scholars has helped me begin to discern the relationship between physical and spiritual grace.

In this workshop, I will do my best to give away to you what I know, and teach you how I work. Together we will learn how better to free ourselves and our students from stasis, restriction, and fixation, how to accompany them into fluidity, spaciousness and poise while ensuring their feet rest firmly upon common and solid ground. We will learn how to make use of human touch as the inexhaustible resource it is for education, nurturance, and growth. We will begin learning how to gently unharness deep, naturally organized patterns of vitality within ourselves and our students. Releasing this groundswell of energy strengthens our will to live, love, learn, and work generously and freely.

In Bruce’s class you feel as if you are sitting by a deep, soft lake. His pace and patience, his quiet confidence, allows people to unfold and open layer by layer. The superfluous falls away, leaving only life’s inner vitality effortlessly expressing itself through you.

Bruce’s touch is like a butterfly settling down on the very turning point of your soul. And then you know, ‘That’s who I am, that is who I could be.’